Conventional wagons for children are made from metal and/or wood and have a flat bed with a raised rim. Wheels on brackets are fastened to the underside of the bed, with front wheels connected to a forward extending handle and mounted for turning. These wagons are generally sturdy and can stand up to long use. However, they are large and difficult to transport in a car, particularly modern cars with relatively small trunks. Also, the overall volume occupied by these wagons make them difficult and space consuming to store.
Various flat-bed hand trucks, flat carts and the like have been split transversely and hinged to allow them to fold for storage, such as those disclosed by Thompson in U.S. Pat. No. 781,243 and by Cohen in U.S. Pat. No. 4,114,914. While effective for flat carts, such a hinge arrangement is not possible with children's wagons having a permanent upstanding rim around the bed.
Attempts have been made to fold a cart having side walls by folding the walls down over the bed or by placing the hinges at the upper edges of the side walls, as described by Greenberg in U.S. Pat. No. 4,957,306. Neither of these arrangements is fully effective, due to the added thickness of the folded rim and the only slight gain in compactness gained by folding around rim mounted hinges.
A cart with a removable rails and a bed into which leaves may be inserted to increase the bed surface are described by Flowers in U.S. Pat. No. 5,186,479. However, the sliding mechanism for receiving the extension leaf is complex and heavy and the leaves when removed must be separately stored or transported.
Thus, there is a continuing need for an improved child's wagon that is sturdy and attractive, that includes side and end rails for safety in conveying a child or packages, that is foldable into a compact package in a convenient and simple manner, that conveniently stores the rails in the folded configuration and minimizes the need to carry or store separate components.